Promotional qualifying service for Degree-holder quota runs from the date the Degree is obtained, not earlier service

Separate promotional quotas for Degree-holder and Diploma-holder Junior Engineers required the three years' qualifying service in the Degree-holder category to run only from the date the Degree was acquired. The rules and departmental construction treated the higher qualification as the starting point for eligibility, and the prior service rendered as a Diploma-holder could not be counted toward that three-year requirement. The consistent understanding of the department and the Union Public Service Commission supported this interpretation, and the contrary view would disturb a long-standing construction of the recruitment rules.

---

---

Issues: Whether a Diploma-holder Junior Engineer who acquires a Degree while in service can count the period of service rendered before obtaining the Degree towards the three years' qualifying service required for promotion as Assistant Engineer in the Degree-holder quota.

Analysis: The relevant recruitment rules created two distinct promotional categories: Degree-holder Junior Engineers with three years' service in the grade and Diploma-holder Junior Engineers with six years' service in the grade. The scheme also equated a Degree with Diploma plus three years' professional experience for direct recruitment, supporting the interpretation that the three years' service in the promotional category for Degree-holders meant service as a Degree-holder. The consistent departmental practice and the understanding of the Union Public Service Commission were that the qualifying three years commenced only from the date of acquisition of the Degree, and the earlier service as a Diploma-holder could not be counted for that purpose. The Tribunal's contrary view would unsettle a long and consistent construction of the rules.

Conclusion: The three years' qualifying service for promotion in the Degree-holder category must be reckoned from the date on which the Degree is obtained, and prior service as a Diploma-holder cannot be counted.

Ratio Decidendi: Where service rules create separate promotional quotas for Degree-holders and Diploma-holders, and the long-standing departmental construction treats the higher qualification as the starting point for qualifying service, the qualifying period for the Degree-holder quota runs only from the date the Degree is acquired.

---